ATHENS, Ga. — The Georgia GymDogs gave fans a “First Look” of their routines for the 2019 season on Saturday in Stegeman Coliseum.
With more depth on all events than a season ago, the GymDogs showcased 30 routines- nine on beam, eight on floor, seven on vault, and six on bars.
“It feels great to get out there with fresh faces and with the new team this year,” Georgia head coach Courtney Kupets Carter said. “They’ve been working very hard in the gym, and it’s really nice to get an opportunity to get in front of fans on actual equipment they will be on for their first home meet. It’s a really nice way for them to get started and kind of know what they need to work on a little more and to get those hard surfaces under their belt. I think they did a fantastic job with that.”
It was revealed that junior Rachel Dickson will perform the vault that head coach Courtney Kupets Carter did as a GymDog- a yurchenko half on front pike. Junior Sabrina Vega will continue the responsibilities of the moonwalk on beam, a tradition that has been passed through generations of Georgia gymnasts.
“We do the same vault but she does it very differently than I did which is great to see the difference in gymnastics,” Kupets Carter continued. “She has so much speed, so much energy, so she can really move through that vault a lot quicker. That was her first time doing it on a real surface, and she only learned it this summer, so I think to see that vault— I love the variation in it. Nobody really does that vault. There’s a handful, maybe, in the country, so I love the fact that she’s able to take it and own it and make it her own.”
Senior Sydney Snead and sophomore Marissa Oakley both earned the high scores of the day with a 9.9 on vault and bars, respectively.
Dickson, Snead, and freshman Rachael Lukacs performed in the all-round and a total of seven freshmen got their first taste of performing in front of Georgia fans in Stegeman.
The GymDogs open the 2019 season in Stegeman Coliseum on January 5 against Ohio State at 4 p.m.